December2-5

Activity1: Our World Needs More/less of....
===Homework: In your journal, answer the following question: Can we create a perfect world if we get rid of all of the things people dislike, and create more of the things people do like? Give three reasons to support your answer and three reasons why someone else might disagree. ===
 * ===students will share the newspaper article they brought to class with the students in a small group===
 * ===the group will divide the articles in to two piles: things the world needs more of OR things the world needs less of===
 * ===groups will tell the class which category their articles go in and if the entire class agrees, then the group can staple the article to the big sheet of paper===
 * ===Discussion: Was it hard for your group and the class to agree on which articles went in which category? Why?===

In this unit, we will read the book __The Giver__ and be able to answer the following essential question "What has been mankind’s vision of "utopia" (perfect world) in history and literature?
===3. Each student will get their copy of The Giver today and a think a-loud book mark. For each chapter, students will complete one think a-loud activity in their journal and find two self-selected vocabulary words. Students need the definition, part of speech and word origin for each word. Lastly, each student will be assigned a chapter for which they will be the discussion leader. They will give a summary of the chapter and read out loud one significant part of the chapter. They will also share their two self-selected vocab. words.===

1. Students will lead discussion for chps. 1&2

 * ===give summary of chapter===
 * ===read one part of the story and tell why that part is being read===
 * ===share the two vocabulary words===

1. Students will lead discussion for chps. 3 & 4

 * ===give summary of chapter===
 * ===read one part of the story and tell why that part is being read===
 * ===share the two vocabulary words===

===Activity 2: Versions of Utopia - groups will be reading, analyzing and reporting on a version of utopia from world history or from literature. Each group will click on their assigned link and follow the directions to complete the tasks. Each member of the group should be ready to present to the class:===


 * ===Genesis & The Land of Oz===
 * ==="El Dorado" & "Utopia"===
 * ===__A Brave New World__===
 * ===The Declaration of Independence===
 * ===__Animal Farm__===
 * ===The Puratins===


 * 1) ===Why is it important to know the history of our lives, our countries, and the world?===
 * 2) ===Why is diversity healthy within a culture? (science link: biodiversity)===
 * 3) ===Why is it unrealistic to think that //utopia// can ever be truly achieved?===